5 On-Screen Couples Who Were ANYTHING But ‘In Love’!
Ever wondered what happens when Cupid’s arrow completely misses the mark on-screen?
You’re certainly not alone!
In honour of St. Valentine’s month of love, today we’re going behind the scenes to look at 5 famous TV and movie couples who’s great on-screen chemistry actually concealed big off-screen angst.
The sign of a truly great actor is a believable performance, after all, so here are 5 classic couples that you may be surprised to hear left their lovey-dovey personas at the studio door and were allegedly anything but lovestruck…
💔 LEONARDO DICAPRIO & CLAIRE DANES
| FROM: Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet |
Yup.
Only the most famous love story of all time.
Just like the feuding families in Verona, even Romeo and Juliet allegedly didn’t see eye-to-eye when the cameras weren’t rolling on this one. In fact, sources say the pair barely spoke to each other when not filming together.
Turns out that 21-year-old, Leo, was quite the prankster on set, which didn’t appear to go down too well with young Claire Danes – who was just 17 at the time.
Rumours circulated that Danes found DiCaprio’s playful approach to be immature, and he found her ‘uptight’ right back. Eeesh.
💔 CHAD MICHAEL MURRAY & SOPHIA BUSH
| FROM: One Tree Hill |
Strictly speaking, Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush did like each other to begin with – perhaps a little too much.
The pair played teen sweethearts, Brooke and Lucas, and quickly became quite smitten in real life as well as on-screen, marrying in 2005.
Just 5 months later, however, the two separated and the divorce papers were signed by 2006.
This apparently made things quite frosty on set as the two then had to keep working together, playing lovey-dovey teens, for 3 years before Murray eventually left the show in 2009.
Did they keep things amicable, you ask?
Well, in an interview in 2014, Sophia Bush was asked about Murray and could only muster, “My mother once said to me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all.”
Ouch.
💔 LENA HEADEY & JEROME FLYNN
| FROM: Game of Thrones |
Turns out the feuds in fantasy epic Game of Thrones weren’t all fictional, either.
The opponents? Queen Cersei Lannister and dashing sellsword, Ser Bronn of the Blackwater.
This was another instance of romance turned sour, with the pair meeting on set of Jerome’s series Soldier Soldier and reportedly dating throughout the early 2000s.
When the two were then both cast in Game of Thrones, trouble was afoot.
According to a show insider, their bad break-up meant keeping the actors ‘apart at all times’, claiming that they had a ‘very turbulent relationship’ and ‘it has been very awkward on set’.
It seems there’s a very valid reason why their characters never appear on-screen together in a scene!
💔 PATRICK SWAYZE & JENNIFER GRAY
| FROM: Dirty Dancing |
According to separate memoirs from both movie leads, Swayze and Grey’s relationship got off to a very prickly start indeed.
In fact: Grey even went as far as begging the studio not to cast Swayze at all – writing ‘Please, no. Not him. Anybody else. Please!’ [Out of the Corner: The Memoir]
It seems that the feeling was mutual, and Swayze found Grey’s inexperience difficult to work with, too:
‘She’d slip into silly moods, forcing us to do scenes over and over, […] She seemed particularly emotional, sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her.’ [The Time of My Life]
This tension translated brilliantly to screen, though. It seems the casting department couldn’t have found a better pair to portray the dynamic between innocent Baby and street-wise Dance Instructor, Johnny Castle!
TOM HARDY & CHARLIZE THERON
| FROM: Mad Max: Fury Road |
Hardy’s method approach to his role as Max evidently clashed with that of co-star Charlize Theron.
In fact, this clash of the titans caused big problems on set.
Co-star, Nicholas Holt, claimed ‘It was a tense atmosphere at times. It was kind of like you’re on your summer holidays and the adults in the front of the car are arguing.’
Arguments even got so heated that Theron admitted there were moments on set that she ‘didn’t feel safe’ and that she spent a lot of the shoot ‘really scared sh**less.’
All was not doom and gloom though – it turns out that the pair’s stunt doubles had rather a different chemistry, and ended up marrying shortly after filming!
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